The reaction of the populace to Calgary's flooding, particularly the city's ballsy mayor Naheed Nenshi, painted Canada as tough-as-nails action figures fighting World War H20. Despite this, the majority of non-Canadians still see us more as that somewhat dopey, big obliviously-smilin' guy portrayed on the cover of Bill Mann's book than they do us as the fearless, hip, smart folk we know we are. Which is why, if I could change anything about our country, it would be the symbols that define us to others.

With GDP forecast to grow by a mere 1.6 per cent this year, our governments (both provincial and federal) need consumers to keep on spending to prop up the economy. They need this while they, themselves, are struggling with ballooning deficits and debt loads.